Friends of the 0chils
Beauly
— Denny: end of the line?
Nicki Baker gives FotO an update on power line decision
I expect you'll have been following the 'progress' of the Beauly – Denny power line decision in the national media, but you may well be somewhat unsure as to what the outcome actually is. So are we!
Two years after the end of the year-long Public Inquiry in which, as you know, Friends of the OchiIs played a very full part, the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism Jim Mather finally announced his decision to the Scottish Parliament on 6 January 2010. He said he was giving approval to the whole line, to be strung on overhead wires and giant pylons all the way from Beauly to Denny. But in other respects his delivery left a very great deal to be desired; MSPs clearly found his announcement lacking in a lot of crucial detail, and he was quite unable to answer their questions at all satisfactorily.
This left the Stirling section of the line, in particular, in limbo. Mather's decision letter to Scottish Power – who have responsibility for the transmission line southwards from the Wharry Burn on Sheriffmuir – stated that there would be a visual impact mitigation scheme' for the route from the Cocksburn Wood (on the Sheriffmuir road) right through almost to Denny. The letter implied that this scheme might offer, for example, the minor rerouting of one or two pylons, and the planting of a few trees and bushes, but it offered no clear explanation of what was intended. And shortly after the announcement, our local MSPs, Bruce Crawford and Keith Brown, started saying publicly that this mitigation scheme might after all include some undergrounding. Even so, Bruce Crawford has said categorically to us that there is no question of the whole Stirling section of the route being put underground – the solution we and Stirling Before Pylons have been advocating for a long time.
Stirling Council, now with a lot of new councillors who weren't in that role at the time of the Public Inquiry, and with a new council Leader (whose ward includes Sheriffmuir, Logie and Powis), and also a complete change of Planning Officers dealing with the issues, have declared an unshakable determination to get undergrounding accepted, even at this late stage. We applaud their resolve, and wish them every success. Stirling Before Pylons and Friends of the OchiIs member Peter Pearson has been included in the steering group for taking this forward. The Council are only 'to be consulted' on the mitigation scheme, however.
We don't know if any undergrounding can be agreed at this late stage, but we'll keep on trying. Failing that, we'll do our best to get the outcome least worst for the OchiIs – for example, by seeking other mitigation measures, and getting attention paid to how people will be able to continue to get reasonable access to Dumyat and the Cocksburn Reservoir during the construction works (which could be on site for up to six years).
The prospects are,
however, that the line will inevitably come overhead at least as far as
Cocksburn Wood (the small patch of ageing pine wood with a car park
(PAGE 4) embedded in it, half a mile or so to the north of the Dumyat
parking area on the Sheriffmuir road). This would bring it right through
the heart of the Sheriffmuir Battle site, with the construction work starting
just at the time when the battlefield will get formally listed as a site
to be preserved as far as possible.
The report of the Public Inquiry was finally made public at the same time as Mather's announcement. It made for sorry reading. It is obvious that the Reporters to the Inquiry had, as we feared, turned rather a deaf ear to all key points put to them by anyone other than the power companies. They dismissed all the main arguments put by all the Councils, the Cairngorm National Park Authority, Scottish Natural Heritage (who made a strong case for undergrounding for the whole Stirling area), and all the third party groups (including ourselves) and individuals.
The one slightly consoling aspect of this sorry process, for me at least, was the reaction of the media to Jim Mather's decision. They were all, very clearly, aghast at its incompetence and deeply sympathetic to the arguments put against the overhead line. Very supportive pieces were broadcast by BBC TV's Newsnight Scotland and Radio Scotland. The Executive Editor of The Scotsman immediately wrote a full page opinion piece, slating the decision, and hailing objectors as national heroes. The Herald ran a full week's coverage, some weeks later, with daily half-page articles on the issues right along the line.
Regrettably, however, having public opinion on our side may not be enough. I would love to think that, at the time of the next newsletter, I'll be writing another piece saying I'm wrong, and it's all worked out after all, but we'll see. In the meantime, please keep all your fingers crossed! And keep up the pressure on your councillors and MSPs.
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